Methane Alert and Response System

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

A new satellite-based system will now help governments detect methane emissions and tackle them. 

• The Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) was launched at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
• MARS is a part of global efforts to slow climate change by tackling the global warming gas. 
• The data-to-action platform was set up as part of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) strategy to get policy-relevant data into the right hands for emissions mitigation. 
• The system will be the first publicly available global system to connect methane detection to notification processes transparently.
• It will use state-of-the-art satellite data to identify significant emission events, notify relevant stakeholders, and support and track mitigation progress.
• MARS partners will also provide technical or advisory services, such as help in assessing mitigation opportunities.
• UNEP will monitor the event location and make the data and analysis available to the public between 45 and 75 days after detection.

Methane Gas

• Methane is an 80 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. 
• It accounts for a small portion of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions compared to carbon dioxide. 
• But it is thought to be 80 times more efficient than carbon dioxide at trapping atmospheric heat in the 20 years following its release.

Source of Methane Emissions:

• More than half of global methane emissions stem from human activities in three sectors: fossil fuels (35%), waste (20%) and agriculture(40%).
• Fossil fuel sector: Oil and gas extraction, processing and distribution account for 23%. Coal mining alone accounts for 12% of emissions.
• Waste sector: Landfills and wastewater make up about 20% of global anthropogenic emissions.
• Agricultural sector: Livestock emissions from manure and fermentation represent roughly 32%. Further, rice cultivation accounts for 8% of global anthropogenic emissions.
• India: Agriculture – 61%, Energy sector – 16.4%, waste – 19.8% (as per Global Methane tracker)
• Methane enters the atmosphere due to leaks in oil and gas industries, rearing livestock and the decomposition of waste in landfills.
• Currently, only 2 per cent of global climate finance goes to methane.
• Global methane emissions in 2030, can be reduced by 57 per cent using available strategies and technologies. This reduction can cause lower global warming by around 0.25°C in 2050 and 0.5°C by the end of the century.

More Information

• As UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report showed before this climate summit, the world is far off track on efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• We must cut methane emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030 — the goal of the Global Methane Pledge — to keep the 1.5°C temperature limit within reach, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 
• The global mean temperature in 2022 is currently estimated to be about 1.15 degrees Celsius (°C) above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average,” with a range of 1.02°C to 1.28°C.
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) scientists recently found 50 “super-emitters” of methane gas in central Asia, the west Asia and the southwestern United States.